Wearable Contest Takes to the Air

SAN FRANCISCO -- Developers working on wearable systems and apps will get a chance to pilot their work at 30,000 feet, thanks to a design competition sponsored by American Airlines and Wearable World. The two-part competition begins June 6 in San Francisco, with a final round on July 11 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

“This competition will provide us with potential use cases for wearables in a space where we’re not quite sure what there is to offer,” American Airlines Phil Easter, director of mobile apps, told EE Times. “We see the wearable space making our lives a lot easier.”

Easter envisioned a wearable that could rapidly download data without the use of a smartphone. Headsets, visors, or watches could notify users of a flight status or how far away they are from a departure gate. A wearable that allows for unspoken identification could be helpful for non-English speakers, the disabled, and unaccompanied minors -- in addition to making check-in faster, Easter noted.

In round one, teams will spend 24 hours designing, prototyping, coding, and testing their applications. Expert mentors, sponsors, and API providers will help teams fine-tune and code their ideas throughout the event. Judges will then rate team pitches and select five teams to advance to round two.

Round one winners will have 30 days finish their projects before meeting with American Airlines customers and employees at SFO to test them. Two members from each team will board a flight to New York to test their app using in-air WiFi while communicating with team members at SFO. The winning team will join the next Wearable World Labs program in San Francisco.